in one hour, at 10:00 eastern, the final caucus will close its doors, meaning we can give you an official nbc prediction of who won out there. we can now report, based on early votes reported by the nevada republican party, mitt romney holds a commanding lead over his rivals in the nevada republican caucuses. i'm chris matthews in washington. i'm joined by nbc political

director chuck todd. one of the objectives is to grow the hispanic votes. i am stunned by the growing power in each of the states. >> and the whole point was to get the party more prepared to talk to hispanic voters, to do better with hispanic voters, particularly out west. you saw these numbers from four years ago and two years ago. harry reid was elected u.s. senator. barack obama won much bigger in the states because of the hispanic vote and look at this map. this is ten states that have an hispanic electorate of 15% or more. let's name check them a little bit. there is only one and that's texas. florida swing state, illinois blue, new york blue, new jersey blue, colorado, new mexico, texas, they are in the battle ground. new mexico, frankly, is already

creeping into light blue territory. arizona, in light red territory where you have the obama campaign to spend the next three months basically test marketing, to see if they can expand the ee lk for rate and get the hispanic vote higher than it was four years ago and figure out a way to peal off enough of the white vote to try to win it. but this is what the republican party is staring at. this is, again, ten states. if you put in seven other states that have 10% or more of the electorate, that's 17 states out of 50 at this point. and, chris, if texas gets into the battle ground, which a lot of people think maybe four years from now it will be. >> yeah. >> unless the republican party does something to change it is rhetoric at a minimum when it comes to immigration. they are going to have a hard time getting at 270. >> quickly, can the republicans make up their loss of the

hispanic votes by gearing up or the backlash vote by anglos against illegal immigration? >> for every vote they would gain doing that, they will lose two votes in a state like -- you just start messing with your numbers. the states where that is effective, if you want to play that game, the states -- those are the shrinking states. those are lost electoral power. so it's diminishing returns. it might be effective to win a senate race, you know n. a midterm year. not for the president. >> great. chuck, we have significant information right now from our entrance polling. that's what we call it on caucus days and how mitt romney is building his commanding lead. for that, we turn to tamron hall. >> certainly the poll is giving us good information about how mitt romney got a commanding lead. he did well across the board

with all groups of voters so far but here's what is different tonight, chris. romney saw improvement or he is seeing improvement with groups he struggled with in prior contests. take a look. nearly half of the republican contest in nevada described themselves as very conservative. before today romney won very conservative voters only in new hampshire. well, today romney gets 51% of those voters who say they are very conservative. that is twice as much as newt gingrich who won just 24%. also, look at this. nevada caucuses include the largest share yet this primary season of tea party supporters. 74%. that's a big number. romney leads even among those who strongly support the tea party, another group where his support has been soft. also, romney beats gingrich 40 to 31% with ron paul, rick santorum trailing behind. we also see a similar pattern around white evangelical voters.

they made up 23% of caucusgoers and romney won at 48% compared to 27% for gingrich. we are seeing improving numbers for mitt romney in areas where he has struggled in other contests this year. >> well said, tamron. that includes the evangelicals running for them. peter alexander is at the romney headquarters. they must be happy that they are doing well even among the evangelicals. you hear about the rift between them and the mormons. >> reporter: yes. i was speaking with a romney campaigner and they said back to back convincing wins. this is not about the mormon vote in the state. it's about the conservative vote in the state and has a strong tea party opposition. they also made it very clear that this demonstrates success in the northeast in new

hampshire and south in florida. they refer to three states as swing states. arguably new hampshire is not a swing state but says it sends warning shots to president obama's re-election team that they will compete in the states that president obama needs to win in a general election, chris. >> when do we expect to hear from governor romney tonight? >> reporter: we think we'll hear from him about 8:00 local time. 11:00 your time. this could be called at 7:00 our time. 10:00 your time as well. is he going to take the day off tomorrow in nevada. they recognize what he says tonight will likely be seen across the broadcast monday morning, which is important as anybody else. they were expecting to go to minnesota on monday ahead of the primary instead they will likely skip that and stop in colorado first. >> okay. thank you, peter alexander.

ron mott is with gingrich at his he headquarters as well. ron? >> reporter: good evening, chris. one of the things that speaker gingrich has to do is raise the money, which is it looks like this las vegas trip was about to try to get more cash into this campaign. but while he does that, he's also got to campaign that's just four weeks from this tuesday. the race that we have left here in february, they seem to concede those candidates aand if he does not do well on super tuesday, one of the rifts and taking the strategy and focusing on march 6th, by super tuesday

and voters, a lot of time perception is reality. they may think it's over for the gingrich campaign. >> ron, what happens, i guess we can't think through the entire strategy. but what does he do if he sees romney spending a ton of money or his super pac people spending a lot of money on super tuesday states demolishing him as they did in iowa and then again in florida? >> reporter: you know, what i think he was hoping that he's not going to get, there's only one debate. he used those two debates in south carolina brilliantly. he came out with a victory. here in florida -- nor florida, rather, he did not have a great debate and lost in a dramatic way down there. he's got to do free media. he knows he cannot compete

moneywise. he's behind. he's behind fnlinancially. the key would be to get out and meet voters. they want to see you. they want to touch your hand, shake your hand. >> right. >> reporter: they want to see you up close and personal. while he had that big 3wr57bd out there on the day that he announced, he was a well-known former speaker of the house. he still has to campaign, retail politics is what it's all about but because they haven't had a lot of money, they haven't done a lot of it. >> ron, thank you for that great reporting. mark halpert is at the romney headquarters. you're chuckling but how does newt solve this media problem between now and march 6th? >> reporter: well, look, we're not in a fair fight. the gingrich campaign is not

organized. today, gingrich met with his seen year advisers and they talked about things that a real campaign, a real campaign would have talked about months ago. they talked about dell le gates, technology, their message. he's taking some time to rest. he's focus canning on trying to go forward. this notion that eavesdroppihe' out is silly and he needs to prepare for march, not expect to get any wins here anywhere else. >> what is his second goal if he can't win the nomination? if he spent the next two months killing himself to justify dignity down in the south when he gets to georgia and texas and those states, what does he accomplish if he doesn't get near the number that romney does at the end of the game? >> reporter: well, let's be clear. his mindset is that romney will not be the nominee. his record is too close to obama's to be the nominee. if you look at a history of

people like gingrich, this is his last time to run. he believes he would be a better nominee and president than romney. he intends to do everything that he can to stop romney from being the nominee. there could be a point, particularly if he doesn't do well in march, where he does change his mind and he has to go through that very public and complicated accommodation to the reality so he's never going to be president. but, again, that's not where his head is right now. his goal is to stop mitt romney with a february not based on wins and losses but based on setting up march. >> sheldoned a ed a dell son is hedging his bets and saying that he would be happy to back romney in the general or later in this process. is that going to be a problem for newt beginning now and march 6th that adelson is shoining divided loyalty here. >> reporter: well, let's see if

he keeps writing checks. he can raise money for his own campaign, if he can develop a compelling message. adelson surely $11 million is nothing. again, tonight he is doing a speech and going to do a press conference. to me if gingrich has a play here, it's not about raising huge money although that would help. he's capable of that. dethat la he did that late on a friday night. the big question is not how much money romney will win by but if gingrich hold as press conference or speech, will he bring in additional donors to the super pac but grassroots donors there. is a satisfaction with and can gingrich tap into that? the structure and message is

nowhere near the level of proficiency right now that romney is driving. >> so interesting, mark. great reporting and analysis. think about how newt has to play this game. coming up, the senior strategist and how they are seeing it from the inside. steve schmidt will be back here with us, also. you're watching live the nevada caucuses.

with you we now know that

romney joins president obama. >> welcome back to the republican caucuses in nevada. let's get back to las vegas. kelly ann conway is a senior strategist. kelly, they are all food stamp presidents. we have a food stamp president now and we will get another one. romney, right? he's spreading the glory. >> no, what newt is saying is that you can't put a piece of tissue paper. the crowned jewel of obama's administration is the obamacare without romneycare there would be no obamacare. president obama said himself that romney carries the basis for obamacare. that's all fine and while he's at it, it's the only elected position that he's ever held. they were third from the bottom. third from the bottom. 37 out of 47 for job kree i guess a.

he gave more money and ought to be proud of it. never as governor of massachusetts, his record as governor of massachusetts. newt's record as speaker of the house, four consecutive balanced budgets, god, chris, balanced budgets in washington is like a dream. we just think if people see a bold choice that they will want 2012 to be 1980, 1994, and 2010 all over again. not 1996 and 2008 when the republican party nominated moderates and lost big. >> so this is the argument. the argument you're making right now in the last couple of minutes is going to be newt's argument that mitt romney is the governor that he was. that's what he will be as president. the governor as in massachusetts, it's a template for the president he will be? >> well, if he's not -- >> you just said that. >> sure. that is part of it. what would he do? in other words, what would be different or what would be the same? i just find it very curious,

conspicuous by his absence, if you will, that when governor romney and sur row gates do to prepare him to be president of the united states, this is the only election he ever won, not for lack of trying, but the only election that he ever won. that's look at his record of those four years. they want to talk about his time in business and in the games. i think it's highly laudable. he did a great job saving the games. but let's look at even what george soros said. soros said, there's really not that much difference between romney and obama. gingrich would be very different. let's just put that question to the republican primary voters. >> kellyanne convey, my question to you, was he a moderate of massachusetts or was he a moderate because that's what worked up there? >> i think is he a moderate. he should just admit that. he said when asked about reagan, he quickly said, i was an

independent during the time of reagan. i'm not trying to bring us back to the reagan-bush years. not a youthful discussion, chris. this is not a guy marching in woodstock. he said it when he was a fully formed man. father of five, grandfather of two. i won't chip away at our pro choice rights. that is fine. just admit that that's who you are. be the same person when you're governing in massachusetts as when you're running in the primary. that's going to be the nagging question for him. the reason they want to push him out of the race is because as time wears on, message can beat money and ideas beat inevitably and if the governor is asked to account for these flip-flops, he will have some trouble. >> kelly, have you heard the phrase repetition is memory? >> yeah. >> one thing you missed, he voted for paul saagas. thank you. >> thank you for where he minding everyone. thank you. >> i know.

now we know exactly the strategy. forget the olympics, business career, bain, think about the fact that he was a liberal to moderate -- moderate to liberal governor of massachusetts and should never be the republican presidential for 2012. >> chris, if he is the nominee, it's going to be 1996 and 2008 again. that's the point. we lost those races. >> yes. you run these guys after they've lost a couple times. that's your problem. steve schmidt is in nevada. is there gold in that, steve, the argument of tieing him to the stake of former of massachusetts? >> here's what i think the problem is, chris. newt gingrich had two great debates in south carolina. when you look at the exit polls, what it shows is those voters made a determination that newt

gingrich and the exit polls in nevada with conservatives, with tea party members, i don't think that's a function of those people believing that mitt romney's the most conservative candidate in the race or even a conservative candidate in the race. i think it's a function of them believing that he's an electable candidate in the race. and to the extent that mitt romney is advancing and none of the rest of these people are, i think that becomes a very difficult argument for newt gingrich to successfully make. it was an argument that might have worked a couple of months ago. i'm not sure it's an argument that is going to work over the next month outside perhaps a couple of the southern states on super tuesday. >> somewhere in my gut i believe that 45% of the american people, maybe 45% at least have decided against voting for barack obama next time, steve. tell me if i'm wrong. >> we talked about this on the night of the florida primary. i think if you look at all of

these polls, if you basically both parties are starting with about 47% of the vote, i think that's the floor in the race, and there is a narrow, narrow margin that the candidate has to compete for. i think it's between 4 and 6% of the election. >> and we're having technical difficulties. we're going to come right back after this break. steve schmidt will be back tonight. he is so smart. we're going to talk to democratic national chair, debbie was ser man schultz.

when you look at the returns of what is happening tonight in nevada, debbie wasserman schultz

of florida, in nevada there's a large lds vote but what i was struck by is that the christians are voting for romney heavily tonight which tells me that he has broken through what we thought was going to be a religious barrier there with the conservative christians. >> well, that is certainly possible but with every passing contest, mitt romney just reveals a little bit more evidence of how dramatically out of touch he is with moderate and independent voters, voters that are focused on trying to make sure that the middle class and working families have an opportunity to be successful. you know, whether it's that he is saying that he would veto the dream act in iowa yet pull us back a little bit on states like florida and nevada where he said in florida that banks have feelings and feel similar pain to homeowners who are upside

down in their mortgages and facing foreclosure. so for the entire contest, mitt romney has demonstrated how out of touch is he with regular folks. >> congressman, let's talk about the biggest news of the week, not most important but the endorsement by donald trump. if you were told by donald trump's people that he was planning to endorse president obama, that he just wanted to meet with them and shake his hand like he did in vegas, what would have been your reaction? donald trump comes to you and says i want to endorse him, what would you think? >> it really makes more sense. >> you do not want to answer this question, do you? >> no. i'm happy to. my answer is that it would make more sense for him tone dors mitt romney because they both enjoy firing people and both have made millions doing it. so it was a con grew went

endorsement. >> so you would say, endorse the guy that you agree with? >> as someone who has run for office myself for 19 years, you never turn down an endorsement, you know. >> let's talk about nevada and all those states with budding population. we just got a marvelous display of the power, the growing power in my recent lifetime of the hispanic vote. it really is decisive. it's so decisive, this hispanic vote. and your state is on the list. >> it's continuing to grow exponentially and that is a key decider when it comes to the outcome of the election. the overwhelming majority of the hispanic voters support

democrats. they will support this president because when it comes to the issues that matter to the hispanic community, the his pan hispanic community really believes that in terms of family, educational opportunity is important. president obama has given more opportunity for higher education and making college loans more affordable. mitt romney believes we should just slash the budget and focus on balancing budget reduction on the backs of people who. >> caller: least afford it. when it comes to medicare, mitt romney wants to end medicare as we know it and making sure that hispanic seniors have that safety net when they did it economically, incredibly important. the immigration reform, if you watch the debate, the republican primary ee especially mitt

romney. >> we're going to hear two phrases. there's the middle east peace process and the immigration issue. both parties say okay. we can find common ground here. people who have been in this country, nobody is that nutty. let's talk about the current waves of people who come into the country illegally and how we're going to register to come in and put them in some kind of formal conversation where they pay taxes and get benefits, legal treatment. just go to something rational. when are we going to go to a rational progressive? >> when we get to republicans in congress that actually believe that we should work together instead of focusing on reclaiming the white house because the only -- the main reason that they will not work with us is that they don't want to see the president be successful and they wouldn't be able to achieve mitch

mcconnell's goal to defeat the president. when we get people who are really responsible on the republican side, willing to step down and work towards that compromise, then we'll be able to make some progress. >>

we need to make sure that we're not kicking people out of the country or suggesting a ludicrous suggestion like mitt romney made that has 11 million people self-deport. >> that's not going to happen. i agree with that. let me ask -- and properly so. let me ask you about florida. it looks to me like very tough for the president this november, now i look at the last matchup numbers. the latest matchup numbers suggest leading romney, the front-runner right now, what's florida look like on his home state? what does it look like? >> what it looks like is that our economy is slowly starting to improve. the consumer confidence is beginning to pick up. tourism has increased again. we've got struggling housing market but president obama has

consistently demonstrated that he wants people to remain in their homes and when it comes to jobs and the economy and middle class tax breaks, all of the issues that are the number one priorities of floridians falls in president obama's corner. president obama has been extreme on all of those issues and really focusing in terms of tax policy on people already doing well and making sure that they can do better. so it's going to be very competitive. >> congresswoman, this is chuck todd. >> hi, chuck. >> it's two to five points lower than the national average in florida, depending on the poll that you look at. one thing consistent is it's always a couple points lower than the national average. the rick scott, republican dominance in 2010, can you explain that away and somehow say okay you feel like the president is going to have the upper hand in florida or it's going to be competitive? >> you know, i absolutely think

it's going to be competitive. the rick scott election from what was basically a 2010 blowout, that was an anomaly and he was the least popular governor in the united states of america. >> was it an anomaly because the democratic party was unpopular or an anomaly because -- >> a variety of things. many of those especially -- rick scott spent $70 million of his own money. the state party at the time, quite frankly, was not well organized. the candidates on our side struggled to put together the campaign. but still one of the closest elections. >> thank you so much. florida is going to be important enough because here's rick santorum ready to speak. >> thank you very much shawn and scott and bobby. thank you all very, very much for your support, your endorsement, your kind words. it is great to be here and i'm

told that i can holdover my former colleague john thune. prior to tonight, he held the biggest crowd but tonight we beat that at 604. i'm going to take credit for that. thank you. many of you have noticed that i had a different neckwear on when i first walked around but they told me that they want to auction off this tie. so i -- and they wanted me to wear it. i am wearing the tie. i will now take it off and sign the tie and then you folks -- i'll do it right here in flont of everyone -- should i sign on the back or the front? the back. okay. i didn't know if you wanted a signature tie. we'll sign it right here. in front of god and country. there we go. now it's worth a nickel or a dime more than it was before.

all right. thank you very much. it's great to be here in colorado. i think it's our second day of campaigning here in the last week i was on the western slope this morning and didn't have any snow over there. i was sort of surprised but we were very pleased when we flew in from missouri last night and we had a great crowd here and i just want to thank everyone for the warm reception that we have received across the country. i think folks are beginning to get excited about the real challenge that you all have three of which have the nomination. it's down to crunch time. you've got to make a tough decision. there's some good people up there. friends of mine in some cases, people i've known in the case of newt gingrich for 20 years. you've got to make a tough decision. and the decision has to come

down to two things. who's the best person to do what must be done for this country first. and that's to defeat barack obama. right? and secondly, who do you trust that is going to have the conviction, principles, courage to go out and do the job in a town that doesn't want change? in a town and in a world that likes to go along to get along? who do you trust that is going to go there with the strong moral convictions, strong ethical convictions, with the strong convictions about what is right for this country to do the job that is necessary, to shrink the size of government back to

i its constitutional framework, to stand up for the values of this country, of faith and family and to make sure that america is, again, respected by our allies and trusted by our allies and in fact feared by our enemies. [ applause ] this is the job you have and in a few days you're going to have to let know what colorado thinks. the first thing we need to do is win this election, i agree, and a lot of people have said, we have to go to the guy that has the most money or is the most moderate in order to win the election. that was the siren song we heard a long time in this -- in republican circles. we heard it back in 1976 when we

chose jerry ford over ronald reagan. we heard it four years later when those supported george bush over reagan. we heard it in '96 when we nominated bob dole and four years ago we nominated john mccain. we need to nominate someone who's going to appeal to the middle, someone who can win. ladies and gentlemen, when we've nominated people who don't stand for the values that make this republican party what it is, who don't have the courage of their convictions, who aren't well-oiled, who are not people that will make the election and we will win this election if we have someone who goes out and paints full contrast.

someone that america trusts to do what in our heart we know needs to be done. to get washington under control. ladies and gentlemen, if you look at the candidates in this race, it's no longer a question as to who will beat barack obama. if you look at the polls today, one came out of rasmussen had president and me beating barack obama by one point [ applause ] we still have a ways to go in name recognition across this country. i'm not a household name like mitt romney or newt gingrich. we have potential to grow, to improve our standards upwardly. we don't have the high negatives. we kept this campaign on a high plain. i didn't engage in petty, personal politics.

i have many opportunities to take shots at governor romney for the way he conducted himself in business. i had many opportunities to take shots at speaker gingrich for the same. but ladies and gentlemen, this race isn't about that. it is about big issues. it's not just about jobs. everyone talks about jobs as being the number one issue. yeah, it's an important issue but each and every one of us knows, particularly if you were involved in the a member of the tea party, you know that there's something bicker at stake in america today. it's not just about the economy. it's not just about jobs. it's something more foundational. it's something bigger. we all know that barack obama and the left in america doesn't see america the same way that you do. they see america as a country

that is in decline. they see america as a country that needs to be managed. you look at what he's doing to the defense department. he's gutting it. he's managing the decline of the military in order to fund a welfare state, to provide for people. why? because, of course, they believe that you need to be taken care of. look at obamacare. the signature issue in this campaign. it is destroying already. it is harming the economy. just the uncertainty of the obamacare has on the hour rides zon is restricting business, the uncertainty of what the cost and regulatory burden of obamacare and dodd-frank and so many other things that this president has in mind is creating instability in the marketplace. you have a bill with obamacare that says that washington nose best how to manage your health,

how to provide for you. is that the america that transformed the world? >> no. >> is this the america that says that we need government to control your lives, that we need government to tell you how much you can spend on health care and what plans you're going to have and what fines you will pay if you don't? >> no. >> ladies and gentlemen, this isn't just about health care. it's about freedom. >> yeah. [ applause ] barack obama has tried to tell you that he can give you the right to health care. is that where our rights come from, ladies and gentlemen, from the government? >> no. >> we're different than every other country in the history of the world. rights came to you from the king or emperor or from the government. but not in america.

america, we are different. we are different. that's why the left in america is so much wanting to transform us away from our founding principles. that's why they don't want to talk in our schools. but america is different because we were founded different. were a great country because from the very beginning of the country, from the very first declaration, america was different. barack obama does not believe that. he said about nine months ago, in paul ryan's budget, he listed a whole host of entitlement and said this. he said america is a better country because of these commitments. reading from his teleprompter, he said. this is not an off-the-cuff line. this was something thought about, worked on, and delivered.

he said, i'll go one step further. america was not a great country until these commitments. according to the president of the united states, america became a great country when the government of this country took money from you, sent it to washington, and redistributed it to those who they believe were more worthy of the money than the people who made it. you see, barack obama doesn't understand that america was born great. [ applause ] >> well, that's former senator rick santorum of pennsylvania campaigning in greeley, colorado. the final nevada caucus will close its door at the top of the hour. that's when we can can give you the final prediction of who won. based on early votes reported by the nevada republican party, mitt romney holds a commanding lead over his rivals.

chuck todd is with us and we're joined by political reporter malia. the geography of tonight, why do you think rick santorum chose to speak from greeley, colorado? >> it's up north of denver, sort of northeast of ft. collins. it's the home and heart of politicians that have had success there if they haven't been from colorado springs. greeley has been the heart of the fourth congressional district which has always been able to send the more conservative candidates and not just to congress but got a couple of them elected to the u.s. senate. you can see the santorum play. i've said this again, if there is one state that he's going to bust out in in the next week, it's colorado because of its religious conservative base. and if he doesn't, then i think

he's got a hard time making a claim of sticking around and sticking around. he talked about how he could have attacked mitt romney in capital lichl but santorum is actually trying to be considered as a romney running mate more so than he may admit. >> i've been watching that because he's been making a play for what he might call a blue collar republican. what we used to call the cloth-colored republican. and said, okay, mitt, you have your end of the party but i've got the regular people that vote in places like ohio. >> that's right. or in pennsylvania, which of course is his home state. i've seen him down in florida. he talks about manufacturing jobs and talks about his grandfather who was a coal miner. >> big hands. >> yeah. >> and everyone is saying that he's positioning himself to be on that vp short list.

but he has been one of the best debaters in going after mitt romney over health care. he's had some of the best attack -- >> did you hear earlier tonight we had kellyanne conway, they are both, and according to you, both going after his record as governor. they are pinning him saying, okay, you saved the olympics in utah. but let's talk about your public record. >> that's true. >> you're a moderate. >> and you hear newt gingrich. he went from calling newt gingrich a moderate in south carolina to a liberal in florida. he keeps reminding people that he's a governor. he calls him governor all the time. which is a reminder that he was in massachusetts and as much as mitt romney is trying to run on this record as a private businessman, head of bain capital, newt gingrich is trying to pull him back there, certainly, to massachusetts. >> chuck, let's talk about you first and the same question here about the claim made by kellyanne, what the strategy is coming from newt gingrich, the

strategy we heard earlier from the imbed, that his vote would go all over the place. let mestraight. newt's vote would go over all the place. santorum's vote would go to him. if he can knock newt out as an alternative to romney he becomes the convincing and, comprehensive conservative who can take on romney in the end? >> if you looked at our polling in florida what we found interesting, santorum's vote split evenly between romney and gingrich. so, santorum makes a good point. in other polling we have seen if gingrich weren't there, santorum benefits more so than romney. so there is some logic into what santorum and the argument san tourp san -- santorum is making. neither are fits with the tea party, populists, palin folks, talk radio crowd.

santorum in particular have taken some hits for the fact that when he was here he was -- he has been accused of being big government conservative. he cut his share of deals on spending bills. he'll make the argument i'm representing pennsylvania. he is right. >> he was recognized as good. american historical museum and things like that. he was doing particularly good things. >> why he got re-elected once. you have to do that in the northeastern states that do need a lot of road fixing. more so than southern states do. because of all the different weather issues and things like that. that's where he would get hit. why the tea party crowd never has really warmed up to santorum. i think that's sort of the flaw in this idea that santorum could go forward. gingrich, rhetorically fits in with the tea party heft h. he has a similar issue. when here, he is a big government conservative.

he would say the conservative rhetoric, cut deals and not be somebody trying to actually shrink government >> one of the big headlines you. write for a paper, the post, some of the lower headlines might be romney was able to cut into evangelical vote, win the tea party vote, the lds vote. and broad in and win categories in nevada. >> yeah, in some ways like what he did in florida. he split evangelical vote, san tore up w -- santorum. >> put it together. we are waiting to get the official result. let me ask you about the fact of economic issues. wealth/nonwealth, it seems. you have mr. flaunt it, donald trump who flaunts his wealth, beautiful wife, money, jewels, jewelry, it puts newt gingrich to shame with his tiffany's account.

all over the place with enormous wealth. he comes in and endorses romney already a wealthy man. romney makes the joke he is more successful than i am. a guy with quarter billion dollars, x number of billion dollars. romney says i am not going to focus on the very poor. wait a minute. there are a lot of people suffering who are poor. the middle class aren't the only ones suffering. people at the bottom are suffering. >> he says they have a safety net. a lot of tea party folks, don't believe in the safety net. they're going to starve the safety net and make, sort of. >> the best of the week was joe saying the safety net is not a hammock. let's bring in howard fineman. i'm looking attic n the economi. >> i don't think there is any question about it, chris.

the e generalje general electio two themes, where the economy is helpeded overall, the health of the economy, the other about the distribution of chances and assets in our so tie. very fundamental. elections are always about that. this more than any other time. that's why some body like rick santorum had an tar argument toe about economics was trying to break through. because the he had to emphasize the social part of his message to get traction which he barely did. he was unable to capitalize on it. that's what romney is trying to do. what newt intermitently is frying to do. i don't think either of them has found his voice on that topic yet. >> let's talk about that. you and i are from pennsylvania, howard the we grew up similar background. seems different. it is very similar. middle-middle. i knew so many republicans in pennsylvania i grew up with

were, not wealthy, not country clubbers, regular people who vote republican, regular people vote republican. is there a rick santorum volt in the fight or is the republican party, upper middle-class and ones who will win the election? >> i think, irony is, first i agree with chuck todd. unless some miracle happens and rick santorum wins colorado next week, you know, there is going to be tremendous pressure on him to gou to get out. he will not have money left. he is demographically in terms of his economic message exactly where the type of swing republicans are that you are talking about in pennsylvania, in ohio, to take two absolutely crucial states. rick santorum group in the circumstances knows how to talk to those people, a republican who appeals to them on social issues. >> romney can't. >> talks like a democrat on, on economic issues. romney can't do either of those

things. santorum on, santorum on paper can do both. there is just something, either maybe it is money, organization, some, some lack of sort of presidential charisma that held him back. but in terms of where he is -- he is right on target. that's why, that's why he is voted, running for vice president right now. >> exactly. i agree with that. romney needs a help mate to help him talk to american people on middle-class level. final caucus, will close its door any minute. we'll give you the news projection. who won. the results of the night. you are watching msnbc live coverage of the nevada caucuses.